WTA Rankings update: Cincinnati Open champion Aryna Sabalenka back at No. 2, Taylor Townsend cracks the top 50, new high for Mirra Andreeva
Aryna Sabalenka is back as the World No. 2 in the latest edition of the WTA rankings. She beat Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 in the Cincinnati Open final to win her second title of the season, and her first since winning the Australian Open in January.
Sabalenka's rise pushed down Coco Gauff to No. 3, who failed to defend her title in Cincinnati as she crashed out in the second round. Iga Swiatek remains the World No. 1 and lost to the Belarusian in the semifinals. She has 10695 points to her name, and a healthy lead over her second-ranked rival, who has 8016 points.
Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini remain steady at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. Aside from her aforementioned runner-up finish in Cincinnati, Pegula won the Canadian Open a week ago. Despite her string of good results, she remains a non-mover at No. 6.
Zheng Qinwen follows her at No. 7. Barbora Krejcikova and Maria Sakkari swapped places to be ranked No. 8 and No. 9 in this week's WTA rankings. Jelena Ostapenko moved up a spot to re-enter the top 10 at No. 10. The Russian trio of Anna Kalinskaya, Diana Shnaider, and Mirra Andreeva attained new career milestones this week.
Kalinskaya rose a spot to No. 15, Shnaider jumped two places to No. 18, and Andreeva moved up three places to No. 21. The latter made the quarterfinals in Cincinnati and gave Swiatek a tough fight before going down in three sets.
Taylor Townsend continues her rise in singles with a top 50 debut in the WTA rankings
Taylor Townsend reached her maiden tour-level quarterfinal in singles at last week's Canadian Open. She continued her good run of form at the Cincinnati Open and made the third round.
It was enough to push Townsend up by seven spots to No. 46 in this week's WTA rankings, a new career high for her. Her compatriots Ashlyn Krueger and McCartney Kessler also secured new career peaks.
Kreuger beat Naomi Osaka in the Cincinnati Open qualifiers and then secured a win over Donna Vekic in the first round. Her run came to an end at the hands of Shnaider in the second round but helped her move up by four spots to No. 61. Kessler, meanwhile, improved her position to No. 98.
Paula Badosa has been one of the in-form players this summer. She won the Citi Open a couple of weeks ago and reached the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open. She's now back into the top 30 as she jumped 10 places to No. 27, and will be seeded at the US Open.
To view this week's WTA rankings, click here.